My visit to the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris was my last stop on the Dream Awake Tour before returning to Austria. Père Lachaise is one of the most popular cemeteries in Europe. I met a woman who showed me the way to Jim Morrison’s tomb, and she told me some interesting details about the cemetery, including that it covers about sixty football fields and about 300,000 bodies are buried there. In addition to Jim Morrison some other famous people are buried there, such as Oscar Wilde, Frederic Chopin or Edith Piaf, etc.
Mystical mood on the cemetery
At eight o’clock in the morning the cemetery opened and I passed by the many grave monuments with this nice lady. The birds twittered, the sun shone through the deciduous trees, and yet there was a special silence. A cemetery is a spiritual place that emits a certain mysticism and therefore I was put in a special mood.
For a long time it had been on my list once to visit the place where Jim Morrison is buried. In the VLog No. 14 | Paris | I say that this visit was not scheduled on the Dream Awake Tour because I had no return flight from Mexico. In my youth I was not really a big fan of The Doors, although I knew a lot of their songs. Only with time did I develop more sympathy for the spirit of the time and especially for the lyrics of Jim Morrison. One of my „Favorite Songs“ is next to the cult anthem „The End“ also „Riders On The Storm“, which I played spontaneously at the grave of Jim as a tribute to the rock legend who unfortunately died too early (see VLog No. 14 | Paris ).
The grave is offside. Hard to find without help. There were a few flowers, pictures of him, and also a still-burning cigarette on the tombstone. I had a beer on the metaphysical level with him drinking a beer and celebrated my Dream Awake Tour in peace.
Some facts about Jim Morrisons death and grave – facts?…
In the summer of 1971, one of the most dazzling figures of the classic rock era died in Paris. However, the death of the Doors singer is still puzzling – the statements are contradictory, but there are some witnesses who brought some light into the matter to the sudden and mysterious death on 03 July 1971. On Youtube there is a very interesting report about the last evening of Jim. If you are interested, see: Jim Morrison – The Last Days of a Legend (4/4) | Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbTRjl5Scg
Despite his great success with the „Doors“ only about $ 200 dollars was spent on the funeral. The coffin was the cheapest that the Paris cemetery ever had. There was no priest present when the coffin was lowered into the tomb. Only five people attended the funeral. Since, in spite of today’s many tourists, no one took care in time to extend the rent, the question of the removal of Morrison’s tomb of Père Lachaise in the summer of 2001 became the main topic. Fortunately, Morrison’s family was able to negotiate the situation with the Père Lachaise administration so the lease was renewed. (Sources: https://classicrock.net/titelstory-the-doors-jim-morrisons-lasts-hours/ and https://reiseerlebnisse.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/jim-morrisons-grab/ )
At the grave stone I noticed the Greek inscription: KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY (Translation: „According to his own spirit“, „According to his own demon“, „faithful to his spirit“ or „He created his own demons“, etc.). In my search for a suitable translation of these words, I came across several interpretations. During my translation attempt on google translate, the following words came out: „On the difference of everyone“. Unfortunately there is no online translator for Ancient Greek. Once again it is confirmed how difficult it is to translate a language analogously without losing the content of the actual statement.
Jim Morrison was not only a frontman and singer of the Doors, he was creative in the fields of literature and film too.
Since people exist, they can remember words and word combinations. Nothing can survive a holocaust except poems and songs. Nobody can remember a whole novel. Nobody can describe a film, a sculpture, a painting. But as long as there are people, songs and poems can live on.
Source: JIM MORRISON IN THE“ ROLLING STONE „INTERVIEW, JULY 1969
Jim said that the particular strength of poetry is its durability. For me, Jim Morrison is a phenomenon even his artistic life was very short. He was one of the first in the „Club 27“, a trademark of great artists. However, I find it very sad that his work did not last longer. He would surely have left more great works.
If you are interested in the literature of and about Jim Morrison, here is a link: https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&query=118584286
I’m happy to end my „Dream Awake Tour“ with that special spirit. Thank you Jim!